Wendo (whose real name was Antoine Kolosoyi) was born in the village of Mushie – about 150 miles upriver from Léopoldville in Congo. He worked as a riverboat mechanic and sometimes would play his guitar for audiences on his riverboat journeys.
In the late 40s, he was introduced to Ngoma by his friend Henri Bowane and recorded their first big hit record: “Marie Louise”, a song which Gary Stewart writes “brought the spirits out of the cemetery to listen.” Wendo’s beautiful singing voice and guitar playing quickly made him a popular Ngoma recording artist.
Here we hear a Wendo record from the early 1950s on Ngoma’s red label. Wendo was by then a big star in the Congolese music scene. The title roughly translates as “The Time of Love”.
Released as Ngoma 1164.
Matrix J 2331
The other side of this 78 rpm record can be found at:
https://youtu.be/qvzC0w2cnKo
Credits
Wendo (Antoine Kolosoyi) – vocals, guitar
Unknown performers – guitar, contrebasse
If you enjoyed this music, please check out my interview with Alastair Johnston, producer of the 3CD/3LP set “The Soul of Congo: Treasures of the Ngoma Label”:
https://youtu.be/2BSsWpb49AA
Leave a Reply